


Now and Forever

by synvamp



Series: Fair Game Weekend 2020 [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Clover has fallen hard, Fluff, M/M, Prompt: Confession, Qrow pretends he's just a brat, Sweet, dorks flirting, fairgameweekend2020, they're both an adorable mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:47:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26709994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/synvamp/pseuds/synvamp
Summary: Something light & fun & sweet to kick off Fair Game Weekend 2020, Day One: Confession.Clover thinks it’s no big deal to let a certain red-eyed beauty into his life. Before he knows it, he’s falling hard. Getting up the courage to ask the man to dinner should be easy, right? But admitting you have feelings for someone is always risky. What will Qrow say? Well, there’s only one way to find out.
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Series: Fair Game Weekend 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2007073
Comments: 26
Kudos: 57





	Now and Forever

\---xxx---

Luck had thrown a few handsome men Clover’s way.

This seemed more than just good fortune. It felt so right; it tingled in the back of his mind where little words like fate and destiny became huge and ponderous. The man had fallen out of the sky (ok, technically in a stolen airship), fallen at his feet (so it was the bolas the first time but what about the second?) and appeared to be his perfect mirror (opposite semblances!? Come on!).

_Too good to be true?_

If there was one thing being lucky had taught Clover, it was to enjoy it while it lasts. So that was what he intended to do.

He stepped out of the truck and onto the ice, his snow boots crunching the powder into the hard pack below. His breath came in swirling plumes. He didn’t really feel the cold because his aura was always active but keeping warm in this weather would drain him fast. Get in, get the Grimm and get out.

“Are you ready for action?” he asked.

Qrow stepped up behind him, red eyes scanning the horizon. “Always,” he replied. His eyes never left the far-away peaks but his lips twitched and his cheeks were lit with a surge of pink, as delicate as a curled rose petal.

_Just the cold?_

It could be… but it could also be something more.

_Focus. Don’t get lost staring at him._

The tunnels were mostly Grimm-free now. The mission was to clear out a nest of blind worms. It was too big for the ground crew but too small to send out the whole gaggle of kids and Ace Ops. A perfect mission for two.

The tunnels were cold and empty, their footsteps echoing out into the darkness. They walked on and on, going deeper and deeper beneath the ice. Clover was starting to wonder if they’d been sent to the wrong location when they finally found the nest.

As the first worm burst from the wall in a shower of glittering shards, Clover didn’t hesitate. The first wave came and went easily enough. The second was going well to begin with. Qrow twirled through them, his cape flying out behind him as Harbinger cleaved through the air. The largest of the Grimm reared up and Clover let his hook fly, a twist of the hips, a flick of the wrist and it sailed free. The fine line jerked and the hook looped, then pulled tight. He felt Qrow move, his lithe body flying through the air. A streak of red and a glint of steel then nothing but tatters as the creature disintegrated around them. Clover turned to check his aura status,

“Clover, stop!”

A huge worm burst from the floor inches from his foot. The air near his face shifted and Harbinger was inches from his cheek, extended in full scythe. Qrow rolled the hilt over his shoulders and swung the blade. The Grimm screeched and turned to dust and the world was blanketed in a sudden hush. Clover’s heart thumped in his chest, adrenaline still bubbling in his veins.

“Thanks, that’s twice now you’ve saved me.

“I wouldn’t call it that. It was probably my semblance anyway,” Qrow looked away. His voice was cynical but light. Clover didn’t like the sad acceptance in his tone. Not one bit.

“I thought I told you not to deflect,” Clover said, injecting a stern but playful note in his words.

“I don’t usually do what I’m told,” Qrow said, those startling red eyes finally finding his own.

“The man who broke into Atlas on a stolen airship? That so?” Clover mused.

Qrow chuckled, “Let’s just say I wouldn’t last long in Jimmy’s handpicked squad.”

“The Ace Ops? Qrow, if you decided to stay in Atlas then I would be honoured to have you in my team.”

He let the words drift in the space between them. Qrow glanced at him and looked away, his hand finding the back of his neck. Was he cuter cranky and shouting “hey, pal!?”, or was he cuter eyes wide and mouth slightly open, as the heat of his emotions coloured his cheeks?

It was hard to tell.

All Clover knew was that every time Qrow made that face it was more dangerous. Clover could feel that little smile working its way into his heart.

He liked to take risks though…

So he basked in the glow and he let Qrow put a little wedge into the chink in his armour.

_What harm could it do?_

\---xxx---

_Three weeks later._

The cold breeze ruffled Qrow’s hair and the little touch of silver at his temples glinted in the clear winter sun. In the harsh reflected glow of sunshine on marble, his skin looked almost luminous. Clover’s mouth was dry.

He had gone through this moment a thousand times in his mind, trying out different words, different gestures. He’d been sure that he was ready but now, with the man striding out in front of him, cape streaming in the breeze, he wondered if he would ever truly be ready.

This was his chance though. Moments alone together were so rare and he didn’t want to confess in the middle of the tundra. What if Qrow didn’t feel the same way? The trip back to Mantle in the back of a truck would be excruciating. No, now was perfect. In the forecourt of Atlas Academy, they were almost alone. No one to see the nerves wreaking havoc on his face, no one to hear if Qrow gently let him down and walked away.

He swallowed thickly.

_You can do it. What’s the worst thing that could happen?_

_No. Bad idea._

_What’s the_ best _thing that could happen?_

Two minutes dreaming of Qrow’s lips later, Clover realised that they were nearly at the other side of the forecourt and he still hadn’t said anything.

He coughed awkwardly and slowed. In front of him, Qrow turned, a look of slight puzzlement crossing his face.

“Uh, Cloves?”

“Qrow,” Clover said, all of his prepared speech vanishing into the cold air like smoke.

“That’s my name,” Qrow drawled. A little merry twinkle glinted in his eye and Clover wondered whether he could somehow read his mind. If he somehow knew what was coming and found the thought amusing.

_Now or never._

_Come on._

“Qrow, I like you,” Clover said. He aimed for confident but invested. Not too attached. Maybe he didn’t quite hit the mark because Qrow’s response was not what he was hoping for.  
  


“I like you too.” The red eyes twinkled but his face was impassive, perhaps a little confused.

_He thinks I mean just as a person. Darn it!_

“No, I _really_ like you,” Clover leaned on the word and tried to make it do the work.

_Come on Qrow, I mean I_ really _like you._

_I like you so much I forget I’m staring at you sometimes and Elm laughs at me. I like you so much that I lie awake at night wondering what your lips taste like. I like you so much that I bought a shirt I hate because it was the colour of your eyes and I just wanted to take it home and look at it._

_I REALLY like you._

“I really like you too,” Qrow said softly, his eyes turned to the ground. His thumb ran lightly across the rings on his fingers, turning them this way and that.

Clover drew a slow breath. Did he mean..? He honestly couldn’t tell if Qrow was saying what he hoped he was saying or if he was uncomfortable. _Should I drop it? Am I making him feel awkward?_ He hated to leave things half done though so he let his intuition guide him. Those eyes flicked back to his and he knew he had to take a chance. Just one last chance to see if there could be something more.

“I mean…” he drifted in the sunset hue of those eyes, trying to find the least direct way to be direct, “not in a professional way. _More than that_.”

“Me too,” Qrow said, but this time he didn’t look away.

Clover closed his eyes for just a second and sent a little wordless burst of thanks out into the ether. Out into that clear and distant sky. When he opened his eyes, Qrow was looking at him with that shy little smile. “You… _too?_ ” Clover prayed. The corner of Qrow’s lips tipped and the smile became something more confident, something a little cocky even.

_Oh gods, the smile. I could look at that smile forever._

“What can I say? Your flirting game is pretty strong.”

_He likes my flirting!_

“Thank you,” Clover said. His heart was throbbing in his chest and his palms were wet but he managed to pull just one more little line from somewhere in the depths of his love-struck being, “I pull out all the stops when I meet someone special.”

Qrow rolled his eyes, “Wow, you are way too nice to me.”

“I didn’t know that was a thing,” Clover smiled. He fought the urge to take Qrow’s hand. _Easy now, Tiger. Give the man a minute to adjust. Keep it light, you can do it._ “I’ll stop if you like but then I’ll just be thinking all this nice stuff about you and you’ll never know what it is,” he shrugged, trying to look casual.

“Are you _threatening me_ with affection?”

“Yes I am,” Clover said.

“Ok compliment me, geez. You’re going to run out of ammo soon anyway.”

The little smirk. Oh, now _that_ was a challenge.

“That so? How about I start with how beautiful you are and how much I’d love to have dinner with you?”

“Ok,” Qrow nodded like he was considering the weather. _He’s such a tease!_

“Ok, let’s start with that or ok to dinner?” Clover asked, just wanting more. More sass, more shy, more flirting, it didn’t even matter. Just _more._

“Dinner sounds nice,” Qrow said. Gone was the cheeky flirting lilt, replaced with a quiet, hopeful sweetness. If anything, it was even better.

_I’d probably happily watch him tie his shoes forever at this point._

_Come on, get a grip!_

“Would you like to pick where we eat or should I surprise you?”

Qrow rolled his eyes again and that cynical goth was back, “I hate surprises.”

“I should have guessed. Is Friday ok? Give you time to pick where we’ll go?” The words slipped from him effortlessly but his whole body felt hot, numb, tingling, light… everything all at once.

_He said yes!_

“Yeah, Friday is fine,” Qrow shrugged. The way Qrow moved was careless, nonchalant but Clover could see the tension he held in his shoulders. The little smile that hovered, threatening to break through his sheen of cool indifference.

_He said yes and he might even be happy about it._

“I have to say, this went a lot better than I expected,” Clover laughed and let a little of that nervous strain out before he just burst with it.

“A lot better than _you_ expected?!” Qrow grinned, “With my luck, I thought you’d spontaneously combust.”

“And you flirted anyway!? Reckless!” Clover gasped, putting a hand to his chest in mock horror.

“You seem like a guy who can handle himself,” the red eyes flicked down and back up and Clover was suddenly grateful for every hour he’d spent working out in his entire life.

_If I can make him look at me like that, then I think I can do anything._

“Well I am, so no more bad luck semblance talk. I make my own luck and I have never felt so lucky.”

“I’m feeling pretty lucky myself. It's... different,” Qrow smiled.

“You’ll get used to it,” Clover said.

Qrow leaned forward and lifted his hand to Clover’s chest. One thumb lightly stroked the corner of his badge and then flicked it. Their gaze met and Qrow smiled, then he let his hand fall and turned away. As he left, cape billowing around him, he waved a hand over his shoulder, “Friday then lucky charm, I’m looking forward to it.”

“I can’t wait,” Clover called out and he was blessed with a warm chuckle as Qrow disappeared around the corner.

Clover stood there for a long time. Eventually, he found his feet again. The warm patch on his chest where Qrow’s fingers had rested slowly filled his whole body with joy.

_Now I just need to figure out how to say I love you._

_Should be easy, right?_

\---xxx---


End file.
